Computer Aided Beam Fabrication Machine

ABSTRACT

A beam working apparatus, includes opposed vice assemblies for holding and rotating a beam about a long axis thereof and a number of gantries that are arranged for translational motion along the beam. At least one tool head mount is provided fast with each of the gantries for a tool for working upon the beam. A number of motors are provided to selectively rotate the vice assemblies and move the gantries in order that the apparatus can be operated by a computerized control system.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Particular embodiments of the present invention relate to CNC beam linemachines that automatically cut and drill steel beams.

BACKGROUND

The discussion of any prior art documents, techniques, methods orapparatus is not to be taken to constitute any admission or evidencethat such prior art forms, or ever formed, part of the common generalknowledge.

Steel fabrication is a labor intensive operation. During steelfabrication steel beams are drilled and cut according to shop drawingsin order that they can be assembled to meet the relevant engineeringrequirements for the construction at hand. Typically only about a thirdof the cost of fabricated steel lies in the value of the un-workedsteel. The remainder of the cost lies in the working hours.

Over the years various approaches have been taken to make steelfabrication less labour intensive. One such approach is the use of CNCbeam line machines. Such machines generally include a table along oneside of which a beam to be worked is positioned. A motorized tool mountis arranged to move along the side of the table and to rise and fall asrequired in order to perform various operations on the beam, for exampledrilling of holes.

Although the CNC beam lines of the prior art increase the throughput ofa steel fabrication plant, nevertheless they suffer from a number ofdisadvantages. For example, the variety and range of operations that canbe performed on the beam is undesirably limited.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus whichis an improvement, or at least a useful alternative to those steelfabrication machines which are presently known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a beamworking apparatus, including:

-   -   a vise assembly for holding and rotating a beam about a long        axis thereof;    -   at least one translation assembly for motion along the beam; and    -   at least one tool head mount fast with said translation assembly        for a tool for working upon the beam.

Preferably the vise assembly includes a pair of opposed vises arrangedto cooperatively hold and rotate the beam.

Preferably the apparatus includes at least one motor to draw the visestogether and apart.

Preferably the vises include respective rotatable cradles to support thebeam.

The apparatus may further include at least one motor to rotate thecradles.

In a preferred embodiment, the at least motor to draw the vises togetherand apart is coupled to a rack and pinion arrangement.

The vises may run on wheels and wherein the rack and pinion arrangementincludes a first rail, fitted with the rack, and a pinion for meshingwith the rack, said pinion being fast with a spindle of the at leastmotor, said motor coupled to one of said vises.

In a preferred embodiment the translation assembly comprises at leastone gantry.

The apparatus may include a gantry motor to move the gantry relative tothe pair of vises.

Said tool head mount preferably comprises one or more of a pan, tilt androll motor.

Preferably the at least one gantry rides along at least a second rail.

The at least one gantry may ride along a first pair of rails and saidvises ride along a second pair of rails. The first pair of rails ispreferably located outside the second pair of rails.

In a preferred embodiment the at least one gantry comprises threegantries and the at least one tool head mount comprises threecorresponding tool head mounts coupled thereto.

Preferably a welding tool is mounted to one of said tool head mounts.

Preferably a laser position detector is mounted to one of said tool headmounts.

Preferably a cutting tool is mounted to one of said tool head mounts.

An electromagnet may be mounted to one of said tool head mounts forselectively holding components to be welded to the beam.

The apparatus may include a holder at a predetermined position forstoring the components.

For example, such components may comprise cleats to be welded to thebeam with the welding tool.

The apparatus may include a computerized control system for said remoteoperation.

Preferably the computerized control system includes a computer arrangedto read drawing files containing information for working of the steelbeam.

The computerized control system may further include one or morecontroller boards arranged to interface between the computer and motorsof one or more of the gantries, tool mount assemblies and vises in orderto move a tool coupled to the tool mount assemblies to carry out theworking of the steel beam.

Preferably the controllers are responsive to position encoders of saidmotors.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provideda method of working a beam comprising the steps of:

-   -   rotating the beam along its long axis through a desired angle        for access by a tool head;    -   checking the position of the beam with a laser measuring device;    -   moving the tool head to a predetermined position adjacent the        beam; and    -   operating the tool head upon the beam;        wherein each step of said method is controlled by an electronic        control system.

The method may include a step of relocating a component for attachmentto the beam from a storage position to the predetermined position bygripping the component with an electromagnet.

The method may include checking the component for correct orientationwith the laser measuring device.

The tool head may comprise a welding head. The component may comprise acleat.

The method may include operating the electromagnet and the welding headin concert to weld the component to the beam.

Preferably the tool head is moved along the beam by a translationassembly to the predetermined position.

Alternatively, the tool head may include a cutting head for formingapertures in the beam.

In a further embodiment the tool head may include a spray painting headfor applying paint to the beam.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may bediscerned from the following Detailed Description which providessufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform theinvention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limitingthe scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. TheDetailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings asfollows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, and somewhat stylized view of a steel beamfabrication apparatus, loaded with a work piece, according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a close up of a vise of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a further view of the vise of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a view of a motor for moving a sled of the vise.

FIG. 5 is an end view of a motor of the apparatus showing a rotaryencoder assembly.

FIG. 6 is a view of an upper section of a gantry of the apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a view of a tool mount of the apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a control system of the apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a view of the interior of a control cabinet of the controlsystem.

FIG. 10 is a view of the apparatus during a further stage of operation.

FIG. 11 is a view of apparatus during yet another stage of operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is depicted a somewhat stylized view of abeam fabrication machine 1 according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The beam fabrication machine 1 is shown loaded with awork piece in the form of a steel beam 31.

Fabrication machine 1 includes an inner pair of rails 2, and an outerpair of rails 4. Two rotatable vises, 9 and 6 ride along the inner pairof rails 2. FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show vise 9 in greater detail.

The arrangement of vise 6 corresponds to that of vise 9 which will nowbe described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The vise 9 is comprised ofa stand in the form of an opposing pair of plates 7, 8 interconnected bybearing rollers 16 which are disposed in an arc about correspondingcentral arcuate cutouts formed through each plate. The bearing rollerssupport an arcuate cradle 18 that is located within the cutout and isflanged with opposing arcuate flanges 22 and 24 that overhang the outersides of plates 7,8 about the edges of the respective cutouts. Theperiphery of flange 24 is toothed and meshes with teeth of step downcogs 26A, 26B. Each step down cog 26A, 26B is fitted to respectivespindles 28A, 28B of servo motors 30A, 30B (not visible). The servomotor 30A is fitted with a positional encoder 44 (visible in FIG. 5) inorder that a control system, which will be described shortly, is able tomonitor the position of the spindle and hence the angle of cradle 18.

Fitted across the inside of the cradle is a support bench 34 upon whichopposing slideable jaws 11 (visible in FIG. 1) are fitted. The slideablejaws 11 are arranged to cooperate to hold a work piece, which is usuallyan elongate metal member, such as steel beam 31.

The vise 9 further includes a sled 40 which supports the opposed plates7 and 8 of the stand and includes wheels (not shown) to roll betweeninner rails 2. With reference to FIG. 4, servo motors 42 are fitted oneither side of the underside of sled 40. The servo motors 42 havespindles that are fitted with corresponding pinions (not shown) whichmesh with respective racks 43 fastened along the inside of rail 2.Consequently, in use the servo motors 42 are able to precisely translatevise 9 along the inner rails 2. Furthermore, the position of the vise 9can be determined by monitoring signals from a rotary encoder of theservo motors 42.

Referring again to FIG. 1, and also to FIG. 6, a translation assemblycomprising three gantries, 13, 21 and 23, ride along outer rails 4. Thegantries are of similar construction and will be described withreference to gantry 13. Gantry 13 is comprised of a pair of uprightposts 15 and 17 which extend upward from respective bases 44, 46. Thebases 44 and 46 are fitted with servo motors 27 that are coupled to theouter rails 4 by means of a rack and pinion arrangement similar to thatpreviously explained with reference to vise 9. Accordingly, gantry 13can be precisely moved, i.e. translated, along outer rails 4 by anelectronic control system as will be described in due course.

Parallel cross rails 48 and 50 span the upper ends of posts 15 and 17. Acarriage 19 is fitted across cross bars 48 and 50 and arranged to slidealong them. A drive band is fitted within the upper cross rail betweenopposing sprockets and arranged for rotation by a servo motor 52 fittedatop of post 17. The drive band is coupled to carriage 19 so that byoperating servo motor 52, carriage 19 may be accurately positioned alongcross bars 48 and 50 as desired.

A pair of parallel, vertical rails 54 and 56 slidingly engage carriage19. The vertical rails 54 and 56 may be raised and lowered relative tocarriage 19 via operation of servo motor 58. The servo motor 58 iscoupled to a drive band that is fitted within vertical rail 56 and whichengages with carriage 19 in order to raise and lower rails 54 and 56relative to the carriage.

A multiple axis tool mount assembly 62 is fitted at the lower end ofrails 54 and 56 as shown in FIG. 7. The tool mount assembly 62 comprisesa horizontal support plate 60 upon which a panning servo motor 64 ismounted. The spindle of panning servo motor 64 protrudes through anopening in support plate 60 and is attached to a vertical yoke 66 whichsupports a roll servo motor 68. Consequently a tool, for example aplasma cutter (not shown) fitted to the spindle of roll servo motor 68,can be moved about five axes of motion. Apart from a plasma cutter,other tools that may be interchangeably fitted to the tool mount includea welder, marker, spray paint head, electromagnet, laser positiondetector and a drill. The tool mount may be simultaneously fitted withmore than one tool. For example two tools, faxing in opposing directionmay be fitted in some circumstances so that each can be rotated intoposition for use when required.

The five axes of motion of the tool mount assembly include threetranslation axes being Y-translation, along the outer rails by virtue ofservo motor 27, X-translation along cross bars 48, 50, by virtue ofservo motor 52, Z-translation of the vertical rails 54 relative tocradle 19, by virtue of stepper motor 25. There are also two rotationalaxes of motion being rotation about the spindle of pan servo motor 64and rotation about the spindle of roll servo motor 64. The tool mount ofgantry 23 is similarly a 5-degree arrangement in the same fashion asthat of gantry 13. However, gantry 21 includes an additional tilt servomotor coupled, at right angles, between pan servo motor 64 and rollservo motor 68 in order to provide a tool mount with six degrees ofmotion.

A block diagram of the controller system is shown in FIG. 8. Thecontroller system includes three controller cabinets, 70A, 70B, 70C,corresponding to each Gantry. FIG. 9 shows the interior of cabinet 70A.

Each controller cabinet contains a GaM controller board 72A, 72B, 72C,that is coupled to a corresponding PWM servo amplifier array 74A, 74B,74C that in turn drives an array of servo motors 82A, 82B, 82Cassociated with the gantries, vises and tool mounts. Circuit breakerarrays 76A, 76B, 76C protect the servo amplifiers and the servo motorsfrom over-current surges.

The controller boards 72 each receive encoder data from the servo motorsthat they control. Each controller board is separately addressable onEthernet network 74 and communicates with master PC 78. The master PC 78executes a program 80 that includes instructions to process steelfabrication shop drawings, extract relevant data, prompt for user inputand convert the extract drawing data and user inputs into controllerboard commands addressed to the appropriate controller boards.

The program 80 is stored on secondary storage of the PC 78, such as amagnetic or optical disk.

In response to the commands from the PC 74, the controller boardsoperate the servo-motors to carry out the fabrication operations. Theyalso pre-process and relay encoder data from the servo motor encodersback to the PC 78.

The controller boards 72A, 72B, 7C comprise three Galil control boards.These are Ethernet addressable boards that can each control systems withup to eight motion axes. The Ethernet motion controllers are designedfor extremely cost-sensitive and space-sensitive applications. Thecontrollers are designed to eliminate the wiring and any connectivityissues between the controller and drives. Plug-in amplifiers areavailable for driving stepper, brush and brushless servo motors up to500 Watts. Alternatively the boards can be connected to external drivesof any power range.

Galil controllers are available from Galil Motion Control, 270Technology Way, Rocklin, Calif. 95765, USA.

In use, the centre balanced vises 9 and 6 grip the beam 31 with jaws 11and, by operation of their servo motors, e.g. servo motor 30A and 30B ofvise 9 rotate arcuate cradle 18, thereby rotating the beam about itslong axis. As a result the tool mounts, e.g. tool mount 62 of gantry 13are able to access all sides of the beam. Furthermore, since the toolmounts operate with a number of degrees of freedom, the tools that aremounted to them are able to operate at virtually any angle on any sideof the beam.

As an example of an embodiment of a method of operating the apparatus,suppose that it is desired to weld a component, such as a cleat to thebeam at a predetermined position. Cleats are stored in a predeterminedstorage area, for example a cassette, mounted on or nearby theapparatus.

After the beam has been located in the opposing vises it is rotated sothat the location on the beam for the cleat to be attached is availableto the welding tool head. A laser measuring tool head then checks thatthe beam is correctly positioned and that the cleat is correctlyorientated in the cassette. This last step may involve checking thatasymmetrical slots, other apertures, edges or markings of the cleat arethe correct way up.

Provided that the cleat is correctly orientated an electromagnetic headthen operates to hold the cleat and move it to the correct position onthe beam for welding. A welding head then operates in concert with theelectromagnetic head to weld the cleat to the beam. It will be realisedthat in this method the translational assemblies in the form of thegantries, to which the electromagnetic head, laser head and welding headare mounted, all move up and down the length of the beam in order thatthe tool heads can carry out the various operations. During execution ofthis method the servo motors on the tool head mount, and the variousgantry and vice servo motors, are all operated and monitored, i.e.controlled by the control system illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show the fabrication machine 1 during various stages ofworking with the gantries and and vises having having been slid alongrails 2 and 4 to various positions.

The machine may be further operated to:

-   -   i) cut the work piece to length, with square, angled, simple        curved or complex curved cuts.    -   ii) cut holes on any face of the work piece.    -   iii) apply an identification mark to the work piece.    -   iv) hold cleat in place ready for welding.    -   v) tack weld a cleat.    -   vi) fully weld a cleat.    -   vii) spray paint the finished item with a spray paint head.

During its operation, relative motion between the tool mounts and theworkpiece, e.g. the beam, may be achieved by either keeping the visesstationary and moving the tool or moving both the work and the toolsimultaneously. The controller system can be programmed to processmultiple small parts from the one length of material, with the work arearemaining stationary and the material being fed into the work area afterthe last part has been processed.

The invention has been explained with reference to a particularembodiment wherein the translation assembly for the tool head mountscomprises a number of gantries that run on rails. However, othertranslation assemblies are possible. For example, in a furtherembodiment the translation assembly may include wheels or runners thatslide along guides mounted to a ceiling above the vises.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific to structural or methodical features. Theterm “comprises” and its variations, such as “comprising” and “comprisedof” is used throughout in an inclusive sense and not to the exclusion ofany additional features.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specificfeatures shown or described since the means herein described comprisespreferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is,therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within theproper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted by thoseskilled in the art.

1. A beam working apparatus, including: a vise assembly for holding androtating a beam about a long axis thereof; at least one translationassembly for motion along the beam; and at least one tool head mountfast with said translation assembly for a tool for working upon thebeam.
 2. The beam working apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thevise assembly includes a pair of opposed vises arranged to cooperativelyhold and rotate the beam.
 3. The beam working apparatus according toclaim 2, including at least one motor to draw the vises together andapart.
 4. The beam working apparatus according to claim 2, wherein thevises include respective rotatable cradles to support the beam.
 5. Thebeam working apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the vises includeat least one motor to rotate the cradles.
 6. The beam working apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein the at least one motor to draw the visestogether and apart is coupled to a rack and pinion arrangement.
 7. Thebeam working apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the vises run onwheels and wherein the rack and pinion arrangement includes a firstrail, fitted with the rack, and a pinion for meshing with the rack, thepinion being fast with a spindle of the at least one motor, the motorbeing fast with one of the vises.
 8. The beam working apparatusaccording to any one of the claim 7, wherein the translation assemblycomprises at least one gantry.
 9. The beam working apparatus accordingto claim 8, wherein the apparatus includes a gantry motor to move thegantry relative to the vise assembly.
 10. The beam working apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the at least one gantry rides along atleast a second rail.
 11. The beam working apparatus according to claim10, wherein the at least one gantry rides along a first pair of railsand the vises ride along a second pair of rails.
 12. The beam workingapparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first pair of rails islocated outside the second pair of rails.
 13. The beam working apparatusaccording to any one of claim claim 8, wherein the at least one gantrycomprises three gantries and the at least one tool head mount comprisesthree corresponding tool head mounts coupled thereto.
 14. The beamworking apparatus according to claim 13, wherein at least one of awelding tool, a laser position detector, a cutting tool, and/or anelectromagnet for selectively holding components to be welded to thebeam is mounted to one of the tool head mounts.
 15. (canceled) 16.(canceled)
 17. (canceled)
 18. The beam working apparatus according toclaim 14 including a holder at a predetermined position for storing thecomponents.
 19. The beam working apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe tool head mount comprises pan and tilt motors.
 20. The beam workingapparatus according to claim 16, wherein the tool head mount furthercomprises a roll motor.
 21. The beam working apparatus according to anyone of the preceding claims claim 1, including a computerized controlsystem arranged to read electronic files containing information forworking of the steel beam by the vise assembly, the translationassembly; and at least one tool head mount.
 22. The beam workingapparatus according to claim 18, wherein the computerized control systemincludes one or more controller boards arranged to interface between acomputer for reading the electronic files and motors of the apparatus.23. The beam working apparatus according to claim 19, wherein thecontrollers are responsive to position encoders of the motors.
 24. Amethod of working a beam comprising the steps of: rotating the beamalong its long axis through a desired angle for access by a tool head;checking the position of the beam with a laser measuring device; movingthe tool head to a predetermined position adjacent the beam; andoperating the tool head upon the beam; wherein each step of the methodis controlled by an electronic control system.
 25. The method accordingto claim 21, including a step of relocating a component for attachmentto the beam from a storage position to the predetermined position bygripping the component with an electromagnet, wherein the methodincludes checking the component for correct orientation with the lasermeasuring device.
 26. (canceled)
 27. The method according to claim 22,further including operating the electromagnet and the welding head inconcert to weld the component to the beam.
 28. The method according toclaim 23, wherein the tool head is moved along the beam by a translationassembly to the predetermined position.